


Adventures of Bear and Bat

by BoPeepWithNoSheep



Series: The Forest for the Trees [2]
Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen, Naruto
Genre: Gen, Slice of Life, but like you know for anbu life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2019-08-05 12:14:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16367600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoPeepWithNoSheep/pseuds/BoPeepWithNoSheep
Summary: Bear-taicho is well known for her strict adherence to standard mission protocol. Agent Bat is known for very much the opposite of that.





	1. Bear and Bat

**Author's Note:**

> These are actually canon to Sleeping in Leaves, albeit pretty far in the future in terms of where that fic is at the current moment of this publication. These focus pretty strictly on Chiyome and her interactions with Shikako and occasionally Sasuke within ANBU.

“Allow the informant to retrieve it, then we can eliminate him and collect it.” **  
**

One would think that wearing masks would eliminate most visible signs of emotion, but the body was incredibly expressive in its own tells. Bear knew before she even spoke that Bat disagreed with her assessment, the younger agent’s entire body was wrought with it. The tension in her barely exposed neck and back evident from a mile away.

“Bear-san, I’m not trying to undermine your authority,” The words made Chiyome’s face twitch under her mask, because  _she_  had once been a young ANBU agent and she knew exactly what the tone of  _‘I am definitely trying to undermine your authority because I think you’re wrong’_ sounded like–But she allowed Bat to continue, “We have all the relevant information. We have a photo, we have a name, this isn’t a big town, their postal service isn’t exactly ninja proof, at most they might ask for shipping details, which we’ve already stolen.”

Bear ever so slowly tilted her head towards her younger coworker.

“Bat-san, you realize how badly that could go if I’m found out?” Because if–and it was an  _incredibly_ large if–they even considered this odd plan it would not be Bat going in. She was too young–Not a lack of talent or experience, but Bear had a  _visceral_ hatred of being paired with such young agents and seeing them harmed.

It was something that Uncle Hiruzen had actually been aware of, and for once, had been gracious enough to grant the minor boon. However, the preference had never made the pass over to Tsunade’s regime and it certainly wasn’t something she wanted to bring up. She could grit her teeth and bear it, fight her instinct and simply keep going.

It was what she always did.

Bat’s shoulders relaxed, and Bear knew  _immediately_  she had said the wrong thing by not dismissing the idea outright. She could practically hear the grin in the teen’s voice as she continued her pitch.

“See, you’re missing the best part, once we’re out and we’ve taken the package we go back disguised as one of the postal workers and we wait for the informant to arrive. We’ll tell him his package was lost or damaged and one of us can steal or forge some damage report papers. By the time both sides know what happened we’ll be gone and it’ll be too late for them to figure out who tricked them.”

It wasn’t…a terrible plan. It wasn’t fool proof and Bear was not certain of its chance at success but worst came to worse an attempt at this plan would not terribly interfere with the overall mission. It may require a degree of messier options than Bear wondered if Bat would be entirely comfortable with, a fire in the post office would take care of any evidence or witnesses if things went poorly. With a sigh, Bear spoke,

“Bat-san, you would have, perhaps, been better assigned a Squirrel mask.”

The grinning voice was back, more chipper than before as Bat pulled the relevant file of information seemingly from nowhere. Bear would not ask about that, it would be impolite, but she would keep watch for it again.

“Is that Bear-Talk for yes?”

_Teenagers._

“Please, give me his picture, Bat-san.


	2. Bear and Bat (Plus Hawke)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Definitely not a fox.

“What the  _hell_  is that noise?”

“It’s probably a fox, they sound pretty weird.”

“It sounds pretty close.”

“Well, then go and check it, Bear-san should be back soon and we’ve almost got camp set up. If it is a fox maybe we’ll have dinner.”

Sasuke shrugs and he’s off, probably on a fool’s errand because neither of them ever really feel particularly comfortable eating foxes if they don’t have to so he’ll probably wander back in a few minutes saying it got away. Shikako resigns herself to set up camp alone in the meantime, digging out the firepit for their smokeless campfire with a quick earth jutsu.

“Shikako!” Sasuke’s voice actually  _cracks_  as he runs towards her–not shunshins which seems odd given how he’s apparently distressed enough to break protocol and that sets off Shikako’s alarm bells like nothing else. As he approaches she sees he’s got something cradled in his arms and it takes exactly thirty seconds for her brain to process just what her teammate is holding.

“Okay, yeah, that’s definitely not a fox.”

“I found it–Her? Him? I found the baby in a  _ditch_.” His voice is distressed in a way that Shikako doesn’t often hear it and it makes her shudder despite the warmth of her chakra circulating through her limbs. There aren’t many villages nearby, Shikako casts out her chakra sense as much as she’s able but can only sense Sasuke, Bear-san making their perimeter traps, some animals, and the precariously faint chakra of the baby in Sasuke’s arms. If the child had parents they were long gone by now.

Her teammate shuffles from foot to foot and holds the baby awkwardly enough that Shikako actually holds her arms out. At least she knows, vaguely, how to hold a baby this young–Or is it even that young? It looks frail enough but it also looks nothing like her pudgy little brother ever had and she instantly feels a similar heartbreak to what she imagine’s Sasuke went through when he first saw it because this baby is so small.

 _What do we do?_   Flies through her mind at a rapid pace as she readjusts the baby as much as she’s able while being careful of her ANBU armor. Which is both harder and easier than she imagined but it means holding the baby up against her chest instead of in her arms, which means she has to position her hands differently and she makes a vague gesture as much as she’s able for Sasuke to do something–though what she isn’t sure because as much as Shikako had mentally prepared herself for all of the unusual possible ways a mission could go wrong she hadn’t planned for a  _sick baby_.

They both remain is panicked silence, because what if they’re loud and they upset the baby, and the only noise is the faint and getting fainter cries of the child in her arms. Shikako’s not actually sure if the baby is getting tired crying itself out or worse and she really doesn’t want to think about that. She is, in fact, trying so hard not to think about such things that she doesn’t notice Bear-san’s approaching chakra signature until it practically on top of them.

“What on earth is going on here?”

Her voice is firm and adult in a way that Shikako hasn’t been so relieved to hear in some time. “Bear-taicho! Sa--Hawk found a baby while hunting and it’s–I don’t know if it’s okay.” She doesn’t mean to whine, because Shikako has fought kages, gods, and monsters but in this, she feels like a helpless teen because this isn’t something she ever trained for. The fact is, Bear likely hasn’t either, ANBU isn’t exactly an organization known for its parental wellness, but she’s an adult and an authority figure and unlike Shikako maybe she’ll know  _something._

And– _thank god_ –Bear does act quickly and immediately, shucks off her cloak strips her armor from her arms and chest with smooth fluidity before taking the baby from Shikako’s arms with ease. She swaddles the baby gently with her cloak, smoothing her hand over it’s back until she’s supporting its head and neck. She angles herself towards Sasuke, her masked face tilting towards him but never actually straying from the baby for long.

“Hawk-san, there’s a bag on my hip with scrolls inside, take out the green one and unseal it, please. Bat-san, I need clean warm water, thank you.” She barks out the orders like they’re a mission, and it’s the kick in the pants that both teens need to snap out of their shared sense of panic. Sasuke does exactly as he’s told, rummaging slightly until he finds the necessary scroll and opening it with a small burst of chakra. The mix of resulting items is eclectic to say the least, for every kunai or other weapons there are odd things like picture books and bottles and it’s abundantly clear now just why Bear seems to know exactly what she’s doing.

_Huh, hadn’t really expected that._

Bear continues with her succinct orders until Sasuke has unearthed, of all things, powdered baby formula from the mismatched hoard. Shikako busies herself by snatching up one of the bottles, pulling water from a seal that  _isn’t_  in her mouth, and being grateful that her chakra control is good enough to warm water without boiling it.

This part she knows how to do, at least, and she even recognizes the formula as Sasuke hands it over to her, an Akimichi brand that wasn’t terribly uncommon among shinobi parents if a bit more expensive than the average formula. If Bear had this it probably meant she was from a clan, this item was one that was traded for more often than it was sold. Shikako filed that information away for a later date as she shook the bottle as thoroughly as possible before letting a small amount of formula dribble onto her wrist to check the temperature.

Once it was ready she gladly handed the bottle over to Bear who nodded and adjusted herself and the baby accordingly. She’s said little outside of her instructions to them but as the baby fussed lightly as she attempted to cajole it into feeding Shikako hears hushed tones.

“Hush now, little leaf, it’s alright. Wouldn’t you like a nice meal now that you’re a little warmer?”

Frankly, it’s jarring to hear the voice of a woman who’s immediate solution to most problems is murder quietly soothe a baby–but, it doesn’t quite rank as high on Shikako’s list as it might. Her own parents are ruthless shinobi turned gentle giants for her and her brothers. It’s not so unusual that Bear may, in fact, be an actual mama bear.

It’s still  _weird_  though.


	3. Bear and Bat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How about a friendly spar?

“We should spar.”

“Excuse me, Bat-san?”

“We should spar Bear-senpai.”

Bear tilted her head ever so slightly. Shikako didn’t blame her for the confusion, the senpai bit was new, and it was definitely not an endearment made to make the older woman more inclined to agree to her request. Certainly not.

“Perhaps another time, I’m afraid I have plans this afternoon.”

And it goes on like that for several weeks, with Shikako lightly badgering her now semi-frequent mission partner. Bear’s really not half bad in terms of superiors, she’s more firm with her than Shikako’s entirely used to but with enough weedling, she can occasionally relent. It’s a matter of Shikako picking her battles, mostly–and watching for when Bear gets that little head tilt that means she’s actually considering Shikako’s suggestions and not brushing them off.

Shikako corners Bear whenever she’s alone, while Bear is polite to most of the other ANBU agents she interacts with, and from asking around no one has anything but positive assessments of the captain, but no one really lingers around her.

Except for one ANBU who Shikako’s never been assigned a mission with, an agent that walks with a limp, wears a bird mask, who keeps their brown hair half pulled back in a short, professional ponytail. Shikao’s almost certain they’re a medic, the way their chakra feels. The two of them always sit together and share some hushed conversation. One of them must use some sort of silencing jutsu because even if she pushes a little extra chakra into her ears Shikako cannot for the life of her hear what they’re saying.

Later, she learns it’s Bear, who has a neat jutsu to use wind chakra to muffle sound waves to the point of actually forming a soundproof barrier with  _air._  It happens on the same mission where she learns that while Bear has a tendency towards using fire to destroy evidence her actual affinity is wind and she wields it with the deadly grace of a tornado as she rips apart enemies with a gale force wind guided by a roundhouse kick.

It’s one of the  _coolest_  kicks she’s ever seen, but she’s not telling Gai or Lee that.

Shikako waits exactly one week between each of her invitations to spar, enough time for it to seem casual and not too much like a little kid begging to play. Bear only grows more bewildered as the weeks progress. She _always_ politely declines, because she has plans. If it weren’t for the honest and sincere apology Bear gives every time and the speed at which she’s known for leaving the ANBU building upon return Shikako would have thought that Bear was purposefully avoiding her.

“I am sorry, Bat-san, but I can’t this week.” She’s mending one of her ANBU standard undershirts the next time Shikako asks. Mending is one of the few tasks that Bear ever does in the lounge, where others might come to relax or destress Bear was always working on something. Polishing her armor, mending things, organizing her mission packs, and once repainting her ANBU mask by hand–and Shikako had done a double take then because she’d sensed Bear’s presence but she’d been wearing a  _Duck_  mask, of all things, while she fixed the scratched paint on her own mask.

Shikako holds back a sigh because the rejection isn’t surprising just disappointing, “It’s alright, you must be a popular lady, your attention’s in heavy demand.”

If anything that actually flusters Bear, she doesn’t do anything so obvious as sputter but she goes utterly silent but for the sound of her chair scraping as she quickly stands up. A skittish Bear is weird, but the woman’s never been much of a conversationalist or social butterfly so Shikako lets her have her reaction without comment,

“I have an important job,” Bear finally says softly, “ANBU is important to the village but this–This is important to  _me_.”

There’s a smile behind that mask, Shikako can’t see it but she can  _hear_  it, “That’s really nice, Bear-senpai. I’m sorry if I’ve been bothering you with the sparring stuff.”

“No, I–maybe next week, Bat-san? I should have a few hours free on Sunday if neither of us are busy then.”

Yeah, smiling in ANBU is weird because people can never really be sure if someone is, but Shikako takes in Bear’s relaxed posture and the soft way her hands rest, fingers laced, across her stomach. Really she doesn’t even know if Bear is the kind of person who smiles frequently, her voice so often flirts just shy of a monotone sound that makes her shiver. Still, her body language seems content enough that Shikaki is inclined to believe her sincerity.

“I’ll hold you to that, Bear-senpai.”


	4. Bear and Bat (Plus Hawk)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bear takes a tumble.

Bear spends about thirty minutes assuring Shikako and Sasuke that her wound, which she only received pushing Shikako out of the way of an enemy attack, is in no way life-threatening and won’t need attention until they make camp once they’re back in fire country borders. Then an hour later she stops the two of them with a single raised hand before stumbling to a halt herself. She nearly collides with a tree in the process of landing on its branch.

“Ah, I’ve been poisoned. I apologize for not noticing earlier if you could give me a moment.”

Bear makes it about ten steps before she collapses, falling off her perch and Shikako and Sasuke both shunshin over to catch her.

The thing about poisons is that there’s only so much a person can do about their effects even when their deadly aspects have been neutralized. Shikako is happy beyond words that her small amount of medical skills have managed to get Chiyome out of danger but she can’t do much more for the older woman. The poison isn’t killing her, but the fever and hallucinations will have to pass on their own time and Shikako does not envy her superior shaking and sweating because she’d taken a poisoned blade meant for Shikako.

The two of them keep a vigil over their indisposed teammate, Bat and Hawk masks set aside for the moment because honestly, Bear isn’t cognizant enough to scold them for breaking protocol. There’s some amount of debate about taking her mask off, and when they finally do Shikako is almost relieved to find out she doesn’t really recognize her from anywhere. It’s not that her face is generic, she could be striking if she weren't feverish and almost crying, just that she's not anyone Shikako recalls having seen before.

Shikako mostly ignores the feeling, whatever decision about Bear’s supposed identity that needs to be made could be decided when said woman isn’t lying prone before them.

She and Sasuke take turns keeping watch over their fallen comrade, periodically changing out a small cold cloth on her forehead. Neither are really sure how much it helps but Bear seems to settle, just a bit, when they changed it. Whether it is the coolness or the contact Shikako can’t say but anything that helps is better than nothing.

Bear keeps repeating names, four of them, and Shikako tries her best to stamp down her curiosity because this knowledge has not been freely given. Two names come up more frequently, Moriko and Yojo–but Takeko and Yasu also make semi-frequent appearances in Bear’s feverish hallucinations. None of the names sound familiar, which is another thing that’s probably better for now.

“Do you think they’re her kids?”

Sasuke’s question startles Shikako out of her own musings and she can do little more than a shrug, “You really thinks she has kids?”

Sasuke gives her a blank, unimpressed stare as he gestures towards Bear’s hip pouches, the ones where she kept her storage scrolls, “She has picture books sealed in with her ninja wire, I don’t think she’s reading them herself.”

“ _Alright_ , point taken.”

They lapse back into silence again, Sasuke switching the cool rags on Bear’s forehead again and Shikako pulling some ration bars from her seal. Neither of them feels comfortable enough leaving Bear in her current state to go and hunt or set up much more of a camp than they already have. All three of their sleeping rolls piled up with Bear sprawled atop them, a small cover of trees, and enough traps to kill anything ranging in size from a small squirrel to a large elephant.

Just to be safe.

An ANBU agent with kids raises some off questions–Maybe it shouldn’t, Shikako hasn’t been in ANBU for that long, but it goes against the reasons she knows for all her loved ones joining ANBU. Especially if Bear’s mysterious hypothetical kids are who she’s always running off to as soon as she returns to the village.

Though Shikako will only admit it in the safety of her own head, ANBU has been an escape from the overpowering awkwardness that permeates her own family about a third of the time these days. For Sasuke it had been an option when no others were presented to him, for Kakashi a place to mean something when his life had lost meaning, and while she might not quite know Tenzo well enough to wager his own reasons for ANBU she has an inkling they’re similar.

For a person like Bear, or at least the person she presents herself as Shikako wonders what ANBU means.


	5. Bear and Cat

Anbu Cat is familiar with Anbu Bear and entirely unhappy with the fact that she has been spending so much time with his senpai’s students. It isn’t hard to spot the remnants of Danzo’s legal root lurking about in ANBU. Some, like Bear, are more discreet than others. Anbu Cricket he avoids like the plague, since it couldn’t be any more obvious that the agent is still very much in Danzo’s pocket. 

Bear is trickier.

He knows she held a high rank in root, once upon a time, but then he’d gotten out and being aware of the ROOT hierarchy had fallen out of his list of priorities. Quickly replaced with keeping his senpai from getting himself killed, and occasionally keeping himself from getting killed at slightly different intervals. 

So when Bear filters into anbu, of course, he’s suspicious, he keeps an eye on her the same way he watches for Cricket. However, where Cricket takes immense joy in sewing petty drama and discontent among the ranks, Bear largely keeps to herself. The speed in which she vacates the anbu headquarters after debriefs is suspicious but he has bigger concerns so for the most part he leaves it alone--Leaves her alone. 

Year pass, and mostly he only thinks of Bear as an afterthought, as a teammate he’s grateful he’s only been forced into cooperation with on the fringes of missions. They aren’t a good combat team, her heavy reliance on fire clashes with his wood release so they’re never paired and only occasionally end up on the same teams. Then when Tenzo makes captain himself he learns that apparently, Bear doesn’t even  _ take _ missions that require multiple captain positions. 

Of course, she wouldn’t, a former root captain deigning to take orders from anyone but her direct superiors is irritating but understandable. She’s almost infamous for the way she speeds though missions, pushes her teams to their very _ limits  _ at times. Everyone knows of Bear’s reputation for brutal but polite orders--she might have the lowest casualty rate but the _ burnout _ rate of her subordinates is ridiculous. 

So it worries him when he learns his senpai’s students have been placed with her.

He plans the confrontation carefully, keeps track of Bear’s comings and goings for several days, shadows the anbu medic he knows interacts with her regularly, then lies in wait. He lingers near the wall, next to the corner table closest to the exit. Unofficially it’s known as the captain’s table, because it’s the preferred location for them to sit when using the lounge. It’s a defensible position with three distinct points of exit(door, window, air vent) and it’s settled next to the coffee pot.

Anbu Bear walks in and take her place at the table, a cup of tea in one hand and a storage scroll in the other. Cat waits for Duck to flit over and casually slide a bento next to her tea, within moments of stepping beside her a small breeze flutters through the room. He knows it’s Bear’s sound jutsu, which she always employs when speaking to Duck. It shouldn’t be suspicious, most anbu value their privacy to borderline extreme extents but with her history and Duck’s own contrasting reputation it just raises Cat’s hackles. 

_ Everyone  _ likes Duck, he’s one of the most popular medics in anbu, known for his good bedside manner if you ignore his constant swearing. He’s also known for taking on  _ projects _ , he latches onto the agents injured most often out of what Cat can only assume is a particular drive that only medic nin really seem to have. He doesn’t know how Bear has tricked Duck into taking her on as one such project but he makes a mental note to warn the man later. 

In the meantime, he slinks towards the table as soon as Duck leaves.

He takes a seat after fixing himself a cup on coffee but doesn’t drink any of it the same way that Bear never seems to actually be seen drinking any of her tea. He notices her latest task because Bear never lingers in headquarters if she doesn’t have some manner of task. She fiddles with a small pile of seals, sorting and carefully wrapping them around her kunai. 

Normally, Cat wouldn’t think anything of it except her  _ recognizes _ the handwriting on those seals, not simple mass-produced tags but the practical script of Konoha’s budding seals mistress. Cat frowns, but does his best to keep his chakra settled and his emotions out of his body language. While he’s almost positive Bear isn’t a sensor one can never be too certain with former root agents. 

“Is there something I may assist you with, Cat-san?”

Bear doesn’t glance up from her work, nor do her quick fingers falter but she inclines her head ever so slightly in acknowledgment as she speaks. Cat slips his mask up just enough to take a sip of his coffee--It tastes like Duck made it today, which is a good change from the foul brew that Ox occasionally subjects them to.

“Those are interesting kunai tags.”

Bear hums out a small sound of agreement, only speaking when she’s completely finished with rolling her eighth kunai. She easily has at least twenty more to finish,“They’re gifts from my Kohai, meant to reduce wind resistance. I believe they will make for more efficient ends to fights if my enemy doesn’t realize I no longer have to compensate my throws and my wind jutsu.” She supplies the information so easily that it rankles Cat, unsettles his expectations in a way he does not like. While not uncharacteristic of two anbu captains talking shop it’s distinctly unrootlike, to simply afford other one's combat secrets.

They sit in silence for some time, Cat doing quite the impression of his own senpai as he broods menacingly opposite Bear. To her credit, the woman seems entirely unphased, and never spares any attention to Cat that she could be using to finish her work. On anyone else Cat would admire the dedication, in Bear it makes him a little ill.

Surprisingly, it’s Bear who breaks the silence as she finishes up and seals the majority of her kunai into various scrolls to be redistributed on her person later, he assumes. There is a hint of a smile in her voice as she pushes her chair out to stand and says, “You may ask Bat-san for tags like these of your own, she is quite talented and seems excited to have someone who does not mind being her guinea pig.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see, my dudes! I haven't forgotten about these guys or abandoned them even if my muse has been a lot more Taz inclined as of late.


	6. Bear and the Hokage

Tsunade’s taken probably longer than she should have to have this meeting--It isn’t to say she’s been putting it off so much as she’s _absolutely_ been putting it off. Bear is one of sensei’s hand-picked captains, for all the cries of nepotism she’s sure that such a young promotion would have caused as far as Tsunade can tell based on the agent’s records, her skill merits the position.

Of course, she’d had someone look into Bear’s loyalties when she took the hat, someone so close to Danzo would normally make her skin itch but honestly, she just sort of feels bad for the kid. She has vague memories of meeting the young Shimura when she was just a scrap of a genin, running messages and occasionally delivering scrolls to Orochimaru which is--

Well, it’s alarming but they’d all been duped by him in the end, she can’t blame a ten year old for trusting a jounin when her own sensei had been taken in by Orochimaru’s charms. She’s got no problems with Anko either way, who did comparatively much more incriminating things than deliver scrolls. The kid gets the benefit of the doubt even if her impeccable record didn’t speak volumes for her devotion to the village above that.

The Shimura have always been loyal, Danzo and his Warhawks take theirs to higher extremes than most but the clan has produced almost nothing but devoted ninja. Shimura Chiyome is proof enough of that, but there are a few glaring pieces of her files that do give Tsunade pause.

They give her ideas too.

The captain files in silently, between Tsunade shuffling from one piece of paperwork to the next. Quiet as death but for the soft clack of one gauntlet against her chest armor as she kneels before the hokage’s desk, “Godaime-sama, how may I serve you.”

Tsunade glances up briefly to give Bear a small nod, it’s not a dismissive sign but Tsunade is the busiest woman in Konoha and she’d been scanning through Bear’s records when the woman came in. She hears the smallest uptick of breath from the anbu agent when she seems to notice that and when Tsunade finally pushes the papers back the captain is standing even straighter than before. A task that as a medic the hokage would have deemed physically impossible, yet low and behold her most time efficient captain in anbu manages not to break her back doing so.

“At ease, Bear-taicho. This isn’t a mission briefing--Well, not in the traditional sense.”

There’s a jerky hesitance to her movements that a less attentive watcher might miss but Tsunade’s not risen to the position she is in life by remaining oblivious.

“You’ve asked for sick leave three separate times recently but only reported to a medic-nin once. Is there a particular reason you’re avoiding my hospital, Bear-taicho?”

The tension that had been mostly suppressed to the young woman’s neck snakes out into her shoulders. Tsunade watches with a growing sense of curiosity the flash and gone nature of the young captain’s anxiety. Just as quickly as the stiffness overtook her form it vanishes when Bear bows at the waist, all supplication and regret, “I deeply apologize, Godaime-sama. If it is an inconvenience to you it will not happen again.”

Tsunade sighs, that hadn’t been the desired response but neither is it a surprising one. She refrains from rolling her eyes only because if the woman in front of her grows any more anxious the hokage is inclined to believe she might have a heart attack here in her office. Not that there wouldn’t be a degree of irony in that, but Bear isn’t her uncle--Who Tsunade would much rather watch fall to the ground clutching at his old rotted heart.

“It’s not an issue of discipline, Bear-taicho but you have to understand why I might be concerned. I won’t have my ANBU taking injuries for this village then limping off to suffer like a battered old tom cat.”

And even now, Tsunade watches the captain like a hawk, she’s been dissecting her movements since she first walked in, albeit as unobtrusively as possible. No tender limbs as far as she can assess, or favoring of one leg or the other. Still, it’s a trickier thing to gauge the survivors of Danzo’s old ROOT regime, the lot of them are absolutely ironclad in their control over their outward emotions. Tsunade’s almost certain she could walk forward, break Bear’s arm mid conversation and the woman wouldn’t even blink.

So instead she levels a stare and waits, Bear doesn’t squirm of course but eventually she does speak.

“...The sick leave isn’t for me, Godaime-sama.”

It’s soft, a hair's breadth away from her earlier monotone that actually has Tsunade’s eyebrows raising slightly, “Oh?”

“I--Well, It should be in my file. I’m the primary guardian of my late cousin’s daughter. She was ill recently, missed nearly a week at the academy. Then my--my cousin-in-law, his file is there as well he’s a ANBU sanctioned medic. He had an emergency mission and needed me to care for his youngest.”

Tsunade nods, keeping her expression carefully neutral in spite of the surprise at this turn of events, “And the _third_ call-out?”

“I--That was,” She trails off softly and Tsunade almost wishes she’s asked the woman to demask when she’d walked in the door. Unfortunately, if she does so now it will be taken for exactly what it is, an attempt to further gauge the younger woman’s emotional state. Tsunade has more tact than to strip away a nervous subordinate's means of comfort so blatantly, “That _was_ a sick day. For me that is, I was injured more severely than previously thought on a mission and needed an extra day to recover from a poisoning. I inconvenienced my subordinates on that mission and apologize profusely.”

Tsunade pages through the documents that Bear had indicated, even reaches down into her desk’s storage seal to pull out this supposed cousin-in-law. It’s a bit of a surprise to see Duck’s cheery face looking back at her, Tsunade was vaguely aware he’d been a widower to one of the Shimura but had somehow misplaced exactly _which_ Shimura.

She vaguely recalls Takeko as Asuma’s playmate but little else, the woman had both made a name for herself and passed away while Tsunade was out of the village. Duck she was a bit more familiar with, medic as he was and a damned good one to stumble his way into ANBU on that type of skill set.

He’d also recently adopted a child, one found on an ANBU mission. Shikako and Sasuke left her with no shortage of headaches, so really bringing home a disastrously malnourished infant had mostly been a drop in the bucket of missions gone awry. The report though had been interesting, especially both of the younger agents notes on Bear-taicho’s clear ease and experience with a baby.

It makes Tsunade scrap her previous idea, she can find a different mole but now she might just have found a solution to an entirely different problem. Tsunade carefully returns all of the unnecessary files back to her desk. Bear’s eyes follow her every movement and she twitches ever so slightly when one file lingers on her desk.

There’s nothing actually in it, just blank papers but Bear doesn’t know that and it gives her better leverage as she mentally reevaluates the next step of her new plan.  
“It seems like out of village work is the inconvenience for you, Bear-taicho.”

The way that Bear’s entire body freezes, breath in her lungs and eyes slightly too wide, Tsunade knows she has the captain cornered, “Of course not, Godaime-sama. I live to serve the village, nothing it could ask of me is an inconvenience.”

Tsunade can’t help the slender eyebrow that practically raises itself--It’s exactly the opening she has been hoping for, presented on a nice silver platter, “Perhaps then, you’d be interested in serving your village a bit closer to home?”

The hokage’s hands sift through folders on her desk until they fall over the first draft of the reform paperwork. Her next meeting had been with Ibiki, for a tentative plan on the restructuring of custody and arrest procedures back to their old arrangement under the Uchiha police. However, she may have to postpone the meeting to a later date depending on how well Bear responds to the tentative offer,

“We’ll need higher ranking jounin to fill out our upper ranks of the soon to be reestablished police corps. I think a former ANBU captain would do nicely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while! I've been sitting on this pretty much since the idea of the mom cops was dropped because Bear would be a GREAT mom cop and also!! Y'all finally get to learn where the ANBU baby went!


End file.
